A Lesson on Wallys
by nihile
Summary: You know why we started calling bad trainers wallys? RSE canon.


So there once was this kid named Wally. He wasn't any good at being a trainer, he could barely walk across the street without coughing. But despite how he couldn't walk a route, his dream was to become a trainer.

Obviously, he couldn't catch a pokemon. Even a baby zigzagoon could've killed him if it looked at him funny. So he waited, instead, hoping something would come up. When that didn't work (obviously), he decided to buy one instead. His parents paid a gym leader to go and catch one for him, and not just any one, but a ralts. Something extra strong to make up for their weak son.

So Wally got his ralts and started on his journey. Let me remind you: he wasn't any good at being a trainer. The heat of a battle would stir up the coals under his feet, and then he'd start coughing from the smoke, and his poor overpowered pokemon was on its own. So he had to leave it all to his pokemon, said that he trusted them, wanted them to do what they did best and he'd be off on the side cheering for them like an oricorio.

And let me tell you something. Ralts are strong enough that even a trainer like Wally could get through the first few gyms with barely an effort. He did, and he caught more pokemon, things that were strong on their own but were nothing compared to a good well-trained... well.

He convinced himself it was due to love and friendship, he was winning. Not that his gardevoir was ripping space apart with its mind because it was a gardevoir, not that his delcatty would only be strong for the next few battles before it fell behind with its early evolution, not that the budew he spoiled into evolution would stop listening to him once he asked it to do anything a little too hard.

And then he found a battle he couldn't win: me. Do you think that I didn't notice his altaria had so little fighting instinct that it could barely hit mine? Do you think I got my latios using friendship and love?

So that's why we call trainers who live that shit wallys. They had all the opportunities to be great, and they threw it away for nothing, and there's nothing more useless than that.

* * *

Amaltai said he still felt a little sick, so... "Ryxu! Let's go!" Wally whistles. Other than Amaltai, his roserade might've had a better theoretical matchup, but he doubted he needed it.

His altaria flies in from the window, doing a quick midair backflip before landing. Always a show off.

The trainer in the doorway gasps. Their mightyena takes a step back, expression filled with a combination of fear and awe, while their marshtomp stomps a foot on the ground.

Ryxu hums, "Who am I facing today?"

The mightyena turns their head to look at their trainer, who stands motionless. Ryxu fixes their gaze on the mightyena, eddies winding around their wings. "Not me!" the mightyena shouts as they realize there's no other way out. "We're just here because you, you won the cup! We missed your match, and everyone said..."

"I'll fight you," the marshtomp says. At the look the mightyena shoots her, she growls, "What! It's the Wally, I have to!"

Despite the mightyena's protests, Ryxu looks more puffed up by this. "Why you-" "-nono terrible idea W-" "-I'll have you know!" The din grows into a cacophony that only urges the marshtomp on: flippers wagging, she lunges at the altaria- who swoops right by her, sending her tumbling with claw marks on her side.

"I am so sorry," the mightyena says, as they help up the marshtomp, who when put upright immediately flops back down, groaning.

"It's alright," Wally says, while Ryxu cocks their head and says, "She deserved it."

"It's just, you had won the tournament and everyone knows who you are, you're a part of trainer history, so we had to come over to ask..." says the trainer, broken out of a stupor.

"It's alright," Wally repeats, perhaps a bit more annoyedly. "You were in the tournament?"

"Yeah! Yeah, although you don't know us, we got knocked out way back in round three." The trainer says it without a hint of discomfort, as if that was all they wanted.

"What's this about the tournament?" Amaltai says, coming down the stairs. A blanket is wrapped around his shoulders, but the gardevoir floats a little bit above the stairs like always.

"That trainer there was just telling us about how amazing we are," Ryxu says, preening.

Amaltai looks at the group, his eyes darkening to a deep magenta. Then he straightens up, eyes back to their normal color. "Trainer," he says, "you should not have come with dark intentions."

Ryxu whips their head around to stare down the trainer, their wings rising up. They hiss, "That's why? Most of you don't keep at it when you realize, but I see you're a special stupid."

The mightyena lets out a small whine, ears going back. "I said this was a bad idea," they whisper, but the trainer's not done. "I just- everyone says, Secect's video, the only way you beat him was, but-"

Wally looks between Amaltai and Ryxu and groans, putting a hand to his forehead. "So that's why you came up to me? Because you wanted to know if I was really a wally?" He shakes his head. "Amaltai's right. You should leave."

It's the marshtomp that tugs on her trainer's arm and goes, "Unghhhh, it wasn't a fluke, there's no way Secect could've beat this one. Col, let's get out of here before I die."

He watches as they leave. He shakes his head, and Ryxu pats him with a wing. "It's okay. I'll beat whoever challenges us like Delcatty beat Secect." They beat their wings in the air. "Casuals! Come at me, I'll show you just how weak I am!"

Wally groans at Ryxu's showboating...

"And we'll post it on the internet next time," Amaltai adds. "They can't lie about us if they see it. Then we will see what becomes of that Secect."

... but he can't hide his smile.

* * *

inspired by that moment in swsh where Hop calls Bede a wally (British slang)

Prompt from OldSchoolJohto's One Foot in Front of the Other: Advice and Prompts for Writing Pokemon Fan Fiction: Write a pokemon fairy tale. Then, look at what you've written and pick a moment that interests you. Write an expanded scene either inspired by it or following it chronologically.


End file.
